Answers

Once your I-829 is approved and you remove conditions to permanent residency, the only thing left is the possible exit from the investment. You get a 10-year green card that will need to be renewed each decade and you will be eligible for citizenship after 3 more years (the 2 years of conditional residency is counted).

Once you have your conditions removed, you have no further obligations regarding your investment as it relates to U.S. immigration law. You will have to look to your project documents regarding your obligations/rights to the EB-5 project itself. This includes an exit strategy. It is important to think of the investment and immigration benefit derived from it as two separate matters.

After your I-829 petition is approved, you likely will not have any immigration obligations. You should review the particular agreements with the regional center project to determine your rights and responsibilities or have an attorney review it with you.

After your EB-5 petition on form I-526 is approved, you will then be eligible to apply for your immigrant visa through the american consular post abroad or through adjustment of status if you are physically in the United States in lawful status once visa numbers are available. You must continue to maintain your investment for at least an additional two years until you have prepared and filed your I-829 petition to remove conditional status and same has been approved.

Once your I 526 petition is approved, you would then have to file for your conditional green card. You must keep the investment "at risk" until your condition is removed. That would mean until you get the conditional card, and you apply to have the condition removed through an I-829 at least two years later.

John J Downey

Immigration Attorney

Answered onOctober 28, 2016

Once you have been granted full legal permanent residence, you have no further obligation regarding USCIS. Any further obligations to the regional center or the project may depend on what agreements you signed with them.

If you have met all your obligations and earned a permanent green card from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the only remaining obligation is likely to be to the regional center pursuant to the terms of investment agreement. Thus, in most cases, the issue that will remain is the term(s) of exit strategy from the limited partnership that the regional center operates for your investment. In essence, both you and the regional center have obligations to either wait until your limited partnership is dissolved or you are allowed to withdraw. Advisably, consult an EB-5 attorney to review when your obligation(s) under the investment agreement ends.

Just hopefully collect a good return on your investment and at some point be able to get your funds out of the project if you want. In most cases you are a limited partner, but you need to read the documents carefully, as each deal is different.

After the I-829 approval, the investment can be liquidated. It really depends on the original agreed terms. Very important to review the exit strategy upon commencement of the case. In some equity investments exiting can be more difficult. This is really a case-by-case determination.

It is the regional center that has the obligations/duties to you as the investor, not the other way around, at every stage of the processing, including after the EB-5 immigrant investor petition is filed/approved. After approval, when it is time to file to remove the conditional permanent residence, the regional center will need to provide the necessary supporting documents to show project performance, jobs created/maintained, etc., as well as continue throughout the process to provide you with financial updates, interest payments, return on investment, etc.

Your question turns on the particular regional center investment - its structure and the terms of the placement. These are questions that should be addressed to your investment immigration counsel. It is important that these questions be answered before your capital is committed.

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